Man gets 2 years in US prison for aiding pushy effort to get ex-official to return to China

Source: Associated Press

Man gets 2 years in US prison for aiding pushy effort to get ex-official to return to China

By JENNIFER PELTZ
Updated 7:31 PM EST, January 15, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — A man convicted in the first trial highlighting U.S. claims that China harasses its critics overseas was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for his role in a creepy campaign to get a former official to return to his homeland.

Zhu Yong, a Chinese retiree who faces likely deportation from the U.S. after his prison term, expressed regret while suggesting he didn’t initially think through the implications of what he was doing.

“I also plead to the nation, the victims and every American citizen for their forgiveness,” he told a court through a Mandarin-language interpreter. He begged a judge for “a chance to renew myself” and to see his grandchild grow up in the U.S.

Zhu, 68, was one of three men found guilty of various charges in a 2023 trial that portrayed cross-border surveillance and stalking in suburban New Jersey.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/china-repatriation-operation-fox-hunt-sentencing-zhu-cf29bbe4333427cae52660adf4a53b92